Madam, - It is important to recall the backdrop against which the Freedom of Information Act was introduced. It is only just over a decade since the Beef Tribunal exposed a lack of parliamentary accountability and transparency in this State's decision-making.
Indeed, when asked at that tribunal about parliamentary questioning, the Fianna Fáil minister Ray Burke observed: "If the other side don't ask the right questions, they don't get the right answers." The presence of FOI legislation at that time would placed much interesting documentation in the public domain.
Democracy in this country has been well served by the FOI Act. After the initial flurry of interest in politicians' expenses, media use has largely been aimed at policy formation and government decision-making.
In my own journalistic work I can point to stories about why the Taoiseach decided to drop plans for State honours system; documents showing the Finance Minister rejected departmental advice on dormant accounts; and records highlighting the existence of a little-known performance bonus scheme for top civil servants.
Ministers and their officials may not like the coverage stemming from records released under the Act. But the ability to obtain such documentation has provided the public with much greater insight into the dynamic of governmental activity and a better understanding of how decisions are arrived at - or not.
In recent days much has been made of the fact that the proposed changes originated from five senior civil servants. Comparisons have been made with the British television series Yes Minister. But in that series the hapless minister was continually manipulated by a machiavellian mandarin.
What is evident from the new FOI proposals is that the officials are, in fact, in cahoots with their political masters. Their joint objective is to quell a movement towards greater transparency and accountability in policy formation.
The idea that the civil service operates as a neutral participant in policy-making has been blown asunder by the proposals from the "FOI Five". The decision to restrict the Freedom of Information Act is a classic case of bureaucracy striking back to stymie a policy counter to its own particular interests.
The only losers in all this will be the public. It seems that too great a familiarity with power has bred only contempt for the very people who decide who should wield power in this Republic. - Yours, etc.,
KEVIN RAFTER, Beaufield Park, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.